MOSCOW, Russia:Second chances are a rarity in most walks of life. But Jamaican sprinter Nesta Carter is hoping that he will be able to make the most of another opportunity over the coming days.

Carter, who finished fourth at the National Senior Championships in June, was only expecting to compete in the 4x100m at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics here.

However, the withdrawal of defending world 100m champion Yohan Blake due to injury, opened the door for the 27-year-old, giving him another shot at his first individual medal at an international outdoor championships.

It's an opportunity that the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships 60m silver medallist is relishing.

"Well, it's unfortunate that Yohan (Blake) is injured and had to pull out of the championships.

Looking forward

"But I'm looking forward to the opportunity, and I am looking to go out there and do what I need to do to get the job done and make my country proud," Carter told The Gleaner, moments after completing his first training session since arriving in the Russian city.

"It's a great opportunity to be able to run the 100m at the World Championships again, and I just want to go out there and do what I have been doing in training. If I do that then it should be well," Carter added.

Carter, recently stopped the clock at 9.87 seconds at a meet in Madrid, his fastest time since his personal-best 9.78 in Rieti, Italy, in 2010.

"Track and field can be an ungrateful sport, ups and down ... I've been up and down and I'm trying to keep it up as much as possible," Carter said. "The World Champs start in a few days' time and I am just looking forward to the start of the 100m competition.

"My preparation has been coming on well and I have had a lot of good sessions in training, so I am alright with where I am at the moment," he added.

"The last World Championships, indoor, I got a silver medal and I now want to bring that success to the outdoor championships as well. But I am not looking at outcomes, I am just focusing on executing what I have been doing in practice and the outcome will take care of itself," said the MVP man.

Carter also weighed in on Jamaica's sprint relay team, which will be missing key athletes Yohan Blake, Michael Frater and Asafa Powell, who have all ran legs on world record-breaking teams in recent times.

"I know we definitely can defend our title and I know that we have been doing that successfully for a number of years. We are missing a number of top athletes who have been key for us, but we still can go out there and execute our race," Carter said. 'We have some youngsters, but they are running very well, so once the right team goes out there we should be good."